“A little bit more aggressive knowing that Pete was out and I had to hunt for my shot a little more. But I thought we did about as good of a job as we have all season on moving the ball and being patient on offense,” said Ellingson, a sophomore.

“I just kept moving without the ball well and teammates kept finding me. … A lot of my shots were in rhythm.”

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery used 10 players, and all of them scored. No one played fewer than 11 minutes or more than 29.

The bench players contributed 44 points, 19 rebounds and, perhaps most amazingly, 16 of the team’s 21 assists. The ball moved as well as it has all year. The five reserves combined to make 16 of 23 field goal attempts, led by Ellingson and Kriener. Dom Uhl had a team-high six assists. Cordell Pemsl added five while also making all three of his shots.

Injured Iowa Hawkeyes guard Peter Jok (standing in black suit) reacts with the Iowa bench during the second half against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa won 85-72.
Jeffrey Becker/USA TODAY Sports

Iowa Hawkeyes forward Cordell Pemsl (35) and forward Ahmad Wagner (right) walk off the court after the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa won 85-72.
Jeffrey Becker/USA TODAY Sports

Ohio State guard JaQuan Lyle (13) is fouled by Iowa forward Ahmad Wagner (0) while driving to the basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, in Iowa City, Iowa.
Charlie Neibergall/AP

“Tyler Cook struggled a little bit in the first half, was great in the second half, really wanted the ball, and we got him the ball,” McCaffery said.

“And so you try to scheme your defense, we’ve got all these different people scoring, makes it difficult, and that’s what you want. But it only works if you’re moving the ball and you’re sharing the ball and you put the team first, and that’s what this group does.”

Ellingson and Kriener epitomized that. Late in the first half, Ellingson fed the 6-foot-9 Kriener for a layup. Early in the second half, it was Kriener digging out offensive rebounds and finding Ellingson for 3-pointers.

Both of them had their best game of the season when Iowa (12-10, 4-5 Big Ten Conference) needed it most.

“I was just trying to play my role, play my heart out and play basketball. That’s what I’m supposed to do so that’s what I went and did,” said Kriener, who added seven rebounds. “It’s kind of force of habit. Get that offense rebound, if you don’t have it, look for the shooter right away.”

Ohio State (13-9, 3-6) led only briefly early in the game and trailed 40-29 at halftime. The Buckeyes never mounted a serious challenge.

“We didn’t guard anybody. We made it so easy. The shots they got were so open,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “We weren’t good.”

CLOSE

The Ohio State coach talks about defensive failures against Iowa

Matta said he didn’t know until game time approached that he was going to be facing a Jok-less Hawkeyes team. Jok leads the Big Ten in scoring at 21 points per game and the Iowa offense typically runs through him.

But McCaffery has said all season that he wants all of his players to aggressively seek out shots. That includes Ellingson, who has been an important sub because he is careful with the basketball and understands how to move it. But that also has meant that he’s passed up shots at times.

“We have consistently tried to get him to be more aggressive offensively,” McCaffery said of Ellingson. “He’s a very efficient person in terms of everything that he does.

“So if he’s curl-cutting, if he’s running the floor, defensively he’s always in the right place. He’s always talking and if he’s not open, he’s not going to shoot the ball. … He really made a concerted effort tonight, starting with the first one he made. He came right off, bang, and kind of set the tone that that’s what he was going to do.”

The Hawkeyes will need Ellingson to continue trying to fill Jok’s shoes. McCaffery said he’s not sure when his shooting star will return, but it’s unlikely to be in time for Iowa’s next game — at Rutgers on Tuesday.